German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that the European Union is seeking to collaborate more deeply on open market access to counter restrictions on global trade, including with Southeast Asia and members of the CPTPP trade pact, Reuters reported from Singapore.

Source: Reuters via BusinessWorld, Oct 27 2026

The world is changing and the EU, with 450 million consumers, has become more active in seeking and building partnerships to expand free trade with open competition, reliability and a rules-based order, Merz said at a press conference during his visit to Singapore. "This is a deliberate counterpoint to what we are currently seeing … we want to do things differently and we want to show that there is a better way," he said.

Source: Reuters via Euronext Live, Oct 27 2026

450 millionConsumers in the European Union market Merz cited in Singapore
12Countries in the CPTPP pact, including Japan, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia
2027Year Singapore chairs ASEAN and says it will push for progress on an ASEAN–EU free trade deal

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said his country, when it becomes chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc in 2027, will push to make progress on an ASEAN–EU free trade deal. The EU already has bilateral free trade agreements with several ASEAN countries and negotiations are ongoing with other members. "We recognise that it will be challenging. It's complex, but we can also have some confidence in moving forward," Wong said about the ASEAN–EU agreement.

Merz said he has called on the EU to better coordinate its existing bilateral trade frameworks with partners like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India to "open up better opportunities for us and our businesses in the region". He also said the EU would be willing to get involved in an ASEAN initiative to integrate its power grids, and to cooperate more on defence and security.

A week of Asia outreach as Germany diversifies

Merz left Berlin on Monday with a large business delegation for a week of Asia visits — Singapore on Tuesday, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday and South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday, followed by a visit to the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea — while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier travels to China in the same week. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has been looking to diversify its strategic and trade links as the United States becomes a less reliable ally and China grows as an economic rival, AFP reported ahead of the trip.

Source: AFP via eNews Malaysia, Oct 2026, on Merz's Asia tour